William Sturgis House

Wyoming, United States

Exterior only

Visible from the street; the inside is private.

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Heritage registerNational Register of Historic Places↗

Built in 1884 by cattle baron William Sturgis in Cheyenne, Wyoming, this 2½-story Shingle Style house was designed by architect George D. Rainsford, a New Yorker who moved to the territory to breed Morgan horses and Clydesdales while maintaining his architectural practice. The L-shaped residence originally featured brick on the first floor and shingles above, later covered with stucco, crowned by a complex roofline with multiple dormers including a distinctive eyelid dormer above the front entrance. Inside, a large living hall showcases fishscale-pattern shingles as decorative wall treatment. The house, attributed in publication to William A. Bates, stands as a significant example of the Shingle Style's westward expansion during the late nineteenth century. Following Sturgis's financial difficulties after the harsh winter of 1886–87, the property passed to rancher John Whitaker. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.